GEORGE TOWN: Joyce Jeremiah, 57, sister of the late Merlyn Ann Jeremiah -- who passed away after being in coma for the past 31 years -- believes her sister has been reunited with her late mother in heaven.
"She is now being taken care of by my late mother and I am happy about the mother-daughter reunion," an optimistic Joyce told The Malay Mail yesterday.
She said she would not be the only one to miss Merlyn as the nurses from the Penang Adventist Hospital who cared for her all this while had also grown very attached to her.
"We somehow became like a family.
"I can't deny that I am sad over Merlyn's passing but in a way am also relieved that her 31 years of suffering has come to an end and she went peacefully," said Joyce.
She added that due to her father James' immobility (he is 89) they had to arrange a special transportation service on a fortnightly basis to visit Merlyn in the hospital for several years.
"Apart from that, our family used to go to the hospital to celebrate special occasions together with Merlyn when my mother was still alive but since it was all done in a simple manner, it didn't occur to us to capture those moments in print," she said.
Merlyn passed away on Saturday night surrounded by her family at the private hospital. She fell into a vegetative state at the age of 15 when she went to a private hospital to remove a corn on her foot.
However, there were complications in what was supposed to be a 20-minute procedure.
Her niece Dawn, 27, said her grandparents used to bring her to visit Merlyn daily when she was in kindergarten.
Merlyn was laid to rest at the Kelawei Road cemetery yesterday on a burial plot in front of her mother Hilder who passed away six years ago.